Recipes

Photo by BBQ Board member Dyal_SC
The Spanish name says it all. Fajita, literally “girdle.” This robust steak from the underbelly of the steer (we call it skirt steak) has everything a carnivore hungers for: a bold flavor and no-nonsense texture you can sink your teeth into at a price you can afford. Anyone can look like a genius cooking a tender filet mignon. It takes skill—even cojones—to turn out a good skirt steak.
The skirt belongs to a family of cheap, fibrous, big-flavored steaks...

Today is Valentine’s Day. I’m giving my wife a heart-shaped card (or at least a card decorated with hearts). If I’m smart, I’ll throw in a heart-shaped box of chocolates.
The one thing I won’t do is serve her a dish that’s a barbecue icon in Peru and Bolivia, and that’s turning up grilled, or otherwise, served at an increasing number of cutting-edge restaurants in North America. I’m referring to beef, veal, lamb, and chicken hearts.
Exhibit #1. The grilled lamb heart salad served at Portland, Oregon’s new temple...

If the way to someone’s proverbial heart is through the stomach, an even faster route is with chocolate. As a spouse, partner, or parent, you probably know this already. If not, learn it fast.
When I was growing up, chocolate was, well chocolate. Today, you have to choose between dark chocolate and milk, bar chocolate and cocoa, single estate chocolate and 90 percent. And what the heck are cocoa nibs?
All chocolate derives from the seedpod of a tropical fruit appropriately named Theobroma...

Sometimes it helps not to have skin in the game.
When the crowds converge on MetLife Stadium in New Jersey this Sunday, neither of my “home” teams (the Miami Dolphins or the New England Patriots) will be playing. That leaves me free to focus on what really matters on Super Bowl Sunday—without nail-biting partisanship—the food.
But I’m rooting for both contenders with my menu, which features two dishes inspired by the Seahawks and the...

Hunger Game? That would be Super Bowl Sunday. Apparently, it involves football and no shortage of statistics (like carries and passing yards). But the stat that matters most to me is 62 percent. That’s the number of American grill owners who will fire them up on Super Bowl Sunday, making this the busiest grilling day of the winter. (Yes, there’s actually an organization that keeps track of our grill usage. Not the NSA, but the HPBA—Hearth, Patio, and Barbecue...

Did you know every day, every week, and every month of the year honors a particular food or drink? Thanks to a blend of presidential proclamations and industry and trade association lobbying, the calendar for 2014 is entirely committed. (It’s reassuring to know that Congress does something…)
You say you missed “National Bloody Mary Day” on January 1? No problem. You can catch one of several days this month honoring alcoholic beverages, including Hot Buttered...

Russians call them zakuski. The French term is hors d’oeuvres. Italians ask for antipasti. In Turkey and other eastern Mediterranean countries, they’re known as meze. In America, we use the macabre expression finger food, and no self respecting holiday party would be complete without them. But if your notion of cocktail party fare runs to cheese balls and stuffed celery, you’re in need of a Barbecue! Bible makeover.
Sure,...

Sure, you could buy that grilling fanatic on your holiday gift list a new smoker or cutting-edge grill accessory. (For some suggestions, check out our barbecuers’ gift guide.) But sometimes, the most meaningful gifts are the ones you make yourself. Homemade gifts help you stretch your holiday shopping dollars, and in inclement weather, they’re a great way to channel your inner pit master without having to don your parka or fight for a parking spot. Which...

Talk about irony. Ever wondered how turkey, that centerpiece of the American Thanksgiving feast, came to be named for a Muslim country in the Near East?
Turkey was, indeed, native to the Americas—hunted in the wild by Massachusetts Indian tribes and domesticated on the Yucatan Peninsula by the Mayans. But when it came to marketing this New World food in Europe, the 17th century explorers and merchants named it for what had been a source of exotic foods and luxury goods for centuries:...

For me, the big question for Thanksgiving is what’s the best way to cook turkey. Over the years, I’ve tried dozens of methods, from roasting, baking, braising to deep-frying. As you might imagine, my current favorite method involves building a fire—specifically, firing up a smoker or a grill.
Over the next month, I’ll be sharing with you my favorite live-fire cooked turkeys. To get you started—here’s a adobo-marinated, mojo-sauced,...